Thwarting the Gods
by Scarlett Rogue
Summary: Thor and Loki are Asgardian Gods; they fought in hundreds of wars and won. Babysitting little Peter should be a piece of cake for the men, right? Wrong.


Summary: Thor and Loki are Asgardian Gods; they fought in hundreds of wars and won. Babysitting little Peter should be a piece of cake for the men, right? Wrong.

Rated: K+ for language

For lovelynobody00 on tumblr, for being an awesome person and arting the most fantastic art :D This little story is based on a lovely piece of her art, go check it out!

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"Are you sure you can handle this?" Steve asked, shuffling from one foot to the other. Little Peter was squirming in his arms, making grabby hands at his sippy cup resting on the counter. Steve reached for the cup with his free hand, dropping his tie in the process. The nearly silent 'shoot' slipped from his lips before he could stop himself, and he looked quickly at his son as if to ensure that he hadn't heard anything.

"'Shoot' isn't a bad word, Steve." Tony grabbed the sippy cup from the counter and pressed it into Peter's small hands. "Relax, Thor and Loki have fought who the hell knows how many wars. They can handle this!"

"Language," Steve scolded.

"Come now, hand the child to me. I can assure you, my brother and I will take good care of him." Steve handed Peter over to Thor and shot a distrusting gaze over to Loki, who raised his hands in a symbol of peace.

"No harm will come to your son," he said sincerely.

"Come on, Steve, Peter will be asleep within thirty minutes. Let's head out before they cancel our reservation and I have to break out the iron suit."

Steve kissed Peter on his forehead and waved to the men, worry still etched into his features. Tony brushed Peter's hair aside, smiled at the men, and strutted out carefree.

As soon as the door closed, Peter hurled his empty sippy cup across the room and let out a loud wail.

"Thor, why don't you get Peter changed for bed and I'll warm him some more cider?" Loki recommended.

"Excellent idea, Loki. The night will be short and sweet, I am certain.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Thor came down the steps without Peter in his arms.

"Is he asleep already?" Loki asked, stirring the small pot filled with apple cider at the stove.

"Not...exactly..."

Loki's hand stilled and he turned slowly to face the older God.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" He didn't like the sound of this. His brother's shoulders were slack and he was purposely avoiding Loki's gaze. Thor took a deep breath.

"Brother, I'm afraid I have misplaced the spider child."

"MISPLACED?" Loki turned the stove off and ran his fingers through his hair. "What do you mean, misplaced? Where did you last see him?"

"He was in his crib. I went to retrieve a bedtime story, and when I looked up again he was no longer in his crib. Or his room. Or the entirity of the upstairs."

"You had one job, brother! ONE JOB! Check the living room, I'll look around in here and the dining room."

Loki spun quickly, searching every wall, ceiling, and underneath all furniture for the small child. Peter couldn't have gotten very far; he wasn't even a year old yet! Then again, he could climb walls and shoot webs from his hands; for all they knew, he was crossing the street at that very moment.

The thought had Loki rushing for the front door, yanking it open and searching around outside. At no sign of movement he closed the door tight and sighed with relief; at least he knew Peter hadn't gotten outside.

"Brother, have you had any luck?"

"No! By the Gods, Thor, Tony is going to tear you to shreds if his son isn't back by the time they get home!"

"And I would let him," Thor said, face dropping with sadness. "I shall check the living room once more." He turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki spotted a tiny bundle of red and blue fabric.

"STOP!"

Thor halted in place, eyebrows raised in confusion. Loki went to him, spun him around, and removed the small child clinging to his cape.

"Ah, what a splendid joke!" Thor exclaimed merrily.

"Yes, positively glorious," Loki rolled his eyes. He cradled Peter securely in one arm and took him to the kitchen, Thor following along laughing. With one hand, Loki tipped the cider into Peter's cup, twisted the top in place, and handed it to the giggling boy. He watched silently as Peter burrowed his head into Loki's chest and drank softly, eyes sliding closed more and more each second.

"Shall I put him to bed?" Thor asked.

"No, no, I've got it. No need for another scare tonight." Loki carried the brunette baby upstairs, cradling him from side to side. He sat in the rocking chair in the corner of Peter's room and watched the child. After a few minutes, Peter let the cup slip from his hands and his eyes closed, mouth opened in a tiny 'o' form.

"You were made to be a handful," Loki smirked softly down at the child, pushing a few strands of hair from his face. "But in the end, you will always sleep."

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Short, sweet and to the point. Hope you enjoy! I'll probably end up writing more of these, if you'd like. Requests are ALWAYS welcome!


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